Instagram Presents: Instagram Stories

When a client launches a new product, campaign or special event it’s our job to promote that news and generate as much exposure as possible. While Twitter is a crackerjack for fast, ‘real-time’ information it’s rapid churn can stunt the organic reach of a post. And while Facebook may have the largest amount of users (1.71 billion active monthly), recent studies indicate that younger audiences are moving towards more visual platforms such as Snapchat. The divide between the demographics can severely cripple the autonomous, ‘community feel’ that comes with a mainstream online presence.

Acknowledging the gap in the market, Facebook has tried many times to copy Snapchat with standalone apps like Poke, Slingshot and Instagram Bolt, but who has time for another app? Let’s consider this another way: If social media was Hogwarts, you could say Facebook is the community-friendly Gryffindor, Twitter would be Ravenclaw for their need to know everything, Snapchat is the Slytherin (relying solely on gaining new, impressionable followers) while every successful Instagrammer can relate to the earth-loving, animal-friendly House of Hufflepuff. I guess what you could say is that there is no one social media platform that fits all. Until BOOM. Instagram Stories was born. Borrowing from newcomer, Snapchat, in that Instagram Stories is a way of sending out visual snapshots that expire in 24 hours, it creates the fast, ‘real time’ newsfeed that Twitter offers, while not disturbing the stylised nature that Instagram has honed in on. Instagram Stories is the perfect place for content that ‘s not deemed ‘good enough’ for the actual Instagram feed. Just like Snapchat, you can use filters, skip stories, and swipe up to start a conversation – Instagram Stories has considered the ‘community feel’ that Facebook leads with, and has even considered privacy by offering options to hide stories from certain users. Instead of creating a new app, Instagram has enhanced their competitor’s features and put it front and centre of an already favourable platform, and they may have just found a breakthrough…